After briefly meeting with Dr Reid (Federal Labor Member for Robertson – House of Representatives) at Parliament House in Canberra our CEO, Meredith Cummins organised to meet with Dr Reid in his office in Gosford on Tuesday 3 October 2023. Being an emergency department doctor he has an understanding of NETs however he was very surprised by the incidence and prevalence of NETs in Australia (recently released by AIHW).
We discussed many of the statistics including 60% of patients are stage 4 when diagnosed and predominantly due to misdiagnosis over many years. This sparked a conversation about lack of education about NETs during Medical School training and upon hearing about our Education Modules he has promised he will do them himself. We also spoke about 30% being diagnosed in the emergency department. The National Awareness Campaign was highlighted as was our Senate Inquiry Submission “Equitable access to diagnosis and treatment for individuals with rare and less common cancers, including neuroendocrine cancer”.
He is very supportive of our submission and will assist in any way he can as a Federal Member in Canberra. We are so appreciative of Dr Reids time and genuine interest and support of the NETs community.